Oil choice based on: Miami 2nd hottest city (avg high) in US

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wemay

wemay

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...not to mention the very high humidity.


2018 KIA Sportage 2.4 (4 cyl) GDi LX AWD (3500 lbs curb weight)

I think considering the screenshots below, the more appropriate viscosity for my situation is 5W-30. (Cap says 5W-20)
I am not anti-XW-20 so please, no thick v thin arguments, but respectful opinions welcome.

Other points of interest:
-60% city driving
-25% stop and go traffic
-Hwy construction is now ubiquitous in South Florida
-Dealership Svc Mgr advised they use 5W-30 in everything
-Will be using 87 octane (top tier)
-Synthetic or synthetic blend (dealership uses blend) oil


https://www.easymapmaker.com/map/90_degree_days_us_cities



https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/hottest-cities.php



https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Florida/humidity-annual.php






 
The oil gets hotter inside the engine than outside. Also, your cooling system should maintain the temperature of the engine regardless of the outside temperatures.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
The oil gets hotter inside the engine than outside. Also, your cooling system should maintain the temperature of the engine regardless of the outside temperatures.


True and i've understood that to be the case. But the owner's manual doesn't specify what KIA considers "hot". So i'm going on what the weather sites consider hot...we fall right in the mix.
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I wish more cars came with oil temp / oil pressure gauges

I have an oil pressure gauge on mine. Wile not 100% accurate, I can tap into the sensor with a scan tool. Once warmed up, there's negligible difference for me whether it's in the negatives or in the high 90s. Run the same 0w30 year round. Stock oil cooler that runs through the radiator endcap
 
Xw-30 will be a good overall choice. If you take short trips, stick to the 20 as the oil may not get up to temp. Long time with the engine running, go to a 40.

I've become a thicker thinker so get some Castrol 0w-40 while it's on rollback at Wally World and pretend you have a Benz!

Oil temps in my GTI hover around 220-230F in the sump.
 
Engine temperature is over 200 degrees when fully warmed up anyway, regardless of whether you're in Miami, Phoenix, or Siberia.
 
I wonder if these hot weather recommendations are left over from the old days? Modern cooling systems if properly maintained keep the engine at the right temperature to prevent oil oxidation. Cars from the Seventies and earlier were not as reliable in this respect.
 
If the cap says 5w20 then that's what I would go with. The fact you are in Miami has no bearing on it. It's not the average temp that is important here. It's the temps you will be driving in. The extremes. You can use any oil on that chart because it never gets cold in Miami.
 
A quality synthetic like M1 0-20 will perform very well if you engine calls for 20 wt oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Dave1027
... The fact you are in Miami has no bearing on it. It's not the average temp that is important here. It's the temps you will be driving in. The extremes. You can use any oil on that chart because it never gets cold in Miami.
Yes, and the humidity is even less relevant than the average temperature. I'd use 5W-20 or 10W-30.
 
I won't use a 40 in the 2.4 anymore (did so a couple times in last Sonata). PimTac, the hot weather recommendation may be something from bygone years but it's still printed in these manuals, so I'll go with it. But i see your point.

5W-30 will show more "certs, approvals and meets or exceeds" than a 10w. My interest is (according to the manual) ACEA A5/B5 (which doesn't come in 5W-20 but shows under the specs page as one of the recommendations. Along with SM/GF-4 or above* - go figure), and/or a personal appreciation for d1G2 or least of all SN Plus.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Engine temperature is over 200 degrees when fully warmed up anyway, regardless of whether you're in Miami, Phoenix, or Siberia.


Yup and the cooling system only has to work 20% harder at 100 degrees than it does at 80 which I'm sure it has within its design envelope. However the human body has a real rough time at anything over 98.6.

So we project our hardships on vehicles engineered to take the circumstances.

Fun fact I had a dodge K-car with the gauge sensor near the cold water inlet. When I drove up hills, it read *colder* due to greater water flow. The *average* temp of your kia at unmonitored areas might be the same, or perhaps even lower, thanks to greater, more even flow. Not to mention all those great warm starts.
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